BatMan: The Return of the Children of the Night
by RJ Morre
Summary: Alfred finds a baby. Bruce takes a DNA test of the child. The results matched his DNA. Bruce vows that his daughter will never become a hero. Until a boy stumbles onto the bat secret and changes his opinion.
1. Chapter 0

A/N: This my first story, so it would be great if you left comments about what you think and by the way in this story Terry is not Bruce's biologically clone son.

P.S.: I don't own the batman beyond characters.

**Episode 1**

**Prologue**

"Alfred, I been thinking is it really worth it?" a strong broad man says as he solemnly takes in his surrounding of heavy rain pouring down on the river of people in the death color black baring the color with mourning the dead. Tears ran high as the minister spoke condolences for the young lives being anchored into the Earth to rest their forever.

"Why whatever do you mean Master Bruce?" Alfred questions while he takes his sight of the gloom of people crying out their last wishes to the children as two men start to cover the coffins with the dirt that had been used to dig the burial place in the first place.

"Death. Was it really worth it allowing them to carry the burden of playing superhero just to be watching yet another death?"

"It's only your decision to make. Whether this secret life that these children that you have taken in lived were really wroth staying here just to watch another product of the Jokers work," Alfred says breathing the damp air just to flinch with the smell of the lifeless bodies that surrounded them under tombstones. Without waiting for an answer Alfred turns away from Bruce to take part in the Hail Mary as a final blissing on the children before the two men bury the last of the children's remains.

Glancing around at the family members of Stephanie Brown, his sort of part time crime fighter teammate Batgirl all he sees are innocent families with tears of pain falling down their faces while their loved one was lying dead all because of his mistakes and they didn't even know it. All the people gathered in the Gotham Catholic cemetery know is that Stephanie Brown died trying to get out of the club that the Joker blew up, which wasn't a lie the Joker actually had blown up the club; however, Stephanie had been captured by the Joker thanks to another one of his failures to save the innocent. Feeling grief over came him in a moment instant with all his past failures creeping up from the part of his mind he buried them. It is his entire fault that the Joker is even roaming through Gotham City. If that day never happened, had been erased from existence then maybe these children...no even then...he decides at the minute that with the chorus of amen reigning through the air that never again will he ever put another child through the burden that wearing the bat suit brought.

"Master Bruce, have you made up your mind?" Alfred says while him and his master walks to their car in rush to avoid anyone acknowledging their present at the funeral today.

"Yeah, from now on I work alone."

Alfred sighs with worry with a glance at his young master that he had been watching over since birth and never in his life as he ever seen such a harden man as he. The butler knows it can't be helped since Bruce places all the misfortunate events that happen in Gotham upon his shoulders alone for he was Gotham's protector their dark night yet he believes he has done more harm than good. What Alfred worried about the most is who was going to take over his master's legacy when he was too old to fight any more if he doesn't take in anymore apprentices.


	2. Chapter 1

**Act 1**

Alfred with a sigh glances around the beautiful decorated living room one that such would see the queen of England lounging around rather than a young rich billion heir that was Batman by night. These days his master is rarely home he is either going across Gotham in a black suit following police reports or doing what any average young rich man was doing partying with others high up in the society and going to public sanctions.

I guess I have yet another day off from Master Bruce is what was going through his mind. Alfred starts on his way when he hears a strange feeble crying from outside he at first brushes it off after all there was no way that there could be a baby crying this close to the mansion because there was no way someone could get a baby through the front gate without them tripping the alarm. As time pasts and the crying gets louder and feeble until it became a loud wailing sound that incurred Alfred to go outside to prove to himself that what he was hearing had to be fake or some kind of trap set by one of his master's many enemies. Despite the fact that he thought that it might be a trap he still followed the whimpering that led him into the cold black of night. He stumbled through the dark until he tripped over something that made the shrilled whimpering stop instantly and turn into a squeals of pain. Alfred looked behind to see that his right leg was on some sort of basket. He quickly scooped up the basket and ran back into the safe fortress he called home. Breathing heavily he collapsed on the door step and took a couple of deep breathes before he looked into whatever thing he brought into his masters house knowing that Bruce wouldn't be happy about it, but when he saw the small newly born feeble cold little baby look up at him as tears fell down its face with the agony of being abandoned.

"I wonder who in the world would leave you out in the cold all by yourself," Alfred said feeling the baby's forehead to conclude his suspicions that he figured that since the baby had been outside all by its self that it would probably have a fever of some sort. It did and a burning one at that his first notion was get the baby's fever under control before he even begun to think about how he was going to break it to his master that he brought an unknown child into his house even despite the fact that it could very much be a trap. As he bathed the baby and feed it medicine he could picture what Bruce would have in store for him when found out about what looks like a baby girl that he senselessly took in without thinking about the dire consequences.

It took hours but he finally managed to get the poor child's fever down with the help of countless warm blankets and thermal patches that he placed on her head. The baby was calm and fell asleep soon after Alfred confirmed that her fever was no longer life threatening. With the baby taken care of it was time to plan what he was going tell Bruce about the child he took into his house when his heart leaped out of his chest with the sound of the door clicking open. Alfred took a deep breath as Bruce called out to him, picked up the baby and carefully walking slowly so he does wake the child.

"What is that?" Bruce asked as Alfred came walking towards where he sat in the living room with a newspaper in his hands. When Alfred didn't answer he looked up to see his old comrade and butler caring a tiny delicate sleeping child swaddled in some of the spare blankets that Bruce gave his last Boy Wonder when he was little. From the heavy frown Alfred could tell that Bruce was going to hate what he was going to tell him, but knowing that evading the truth was impossible he quickly spilled the story. Throughout the whole story he remained silent in a thoughtful position that he kept even long after Alfred had finished his explanation.

"Did the baby come with any letter or message? Because it can't be a coincidence that whoever dropped this thing here did it without thinking or knowing that I live here."

"Well don't think that she came with any message, but then again I was probably too worried about the baby's fever to look through the basket she came in-"

"Alfred, you know we can't keep this child. Whoever dropped her off here probably won't mind if the child ends up in an orphanage," Bruce said without taking his gaze off the child. Something wasn't right, how could anyone get close enough to his house without any alarms going off? Bruce pondered the question going over every possible solution, but each one he thought up didn't satisfy him.

"Master Bruce about the orphanage, are you sure-"

"Am I sure about what Alfred? You know better than I do that I can't afford people near me. The world I live in is no place to be raising an innocent baby in, not after what happen to the other kids I took into this world."

"I suppose you're right I'll start looking for an appropriate orphanage for her," Alfred said with a sigh of disappointment. Even though Alfred knew he shouldn't be disappointed with Bruce's decision but a large part of him for some reason really believed that Bruce want to keep the baby. Alfred dropped the baby into Bruce's lap and walked briskly out of the room before Bruce could even say a word. With a sigh Bruce picked up the child and held her in his arms, but with that moment the sleeping baby awoke and revealed a pair of blue eyes so pure and untainted by the world that she been birth into made Bruce almost certain that he couldn't keep her not with the psychoses and murders that are always around him. Bruce couldn't help feel sorry for the child to have been abandoned by her family and left out in the cold, so he decided that he would do a DNA test on the child to see who its parents were or if this whole child thing was a huge sick joke done by one of his many enemies.

Bruce took the child passed the secret entrance behind the grandfather clock in the living room that led them down a long spiraling staircase into the dark underground cave where Bruce no longer lived as a normal rich young man but as the dark night. He took a hair sample from the child that led to some tears on the baby's part. The crying of pain brought Alfred immediately rushing into the Bat Cave.

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing much just running a DNA test on her," Bruce replied without looking away from his computer as it looked through his database for possible matches of DNA. It didn't take long for the computer to start loading the results, which surprised Bruce slightly, but he kept his face calm and neutral. But the calm indifferent mask he was wearing soon shattered with shock that froze him place while staring at the results of the DNA test that showed that the child's DNA was 99.5% match to his own DNA.

How is this even possible? Bruce thought as he went through the possibilities it couldn't have been relatives, he had already checked if he had any blood relatives and found none and she couldn't be his daughter because well he wasn't really a people and strict rules about keeping outsiders especially women at a distance.

"Bruce is there something you forgot to tell me?"

Bruce sighed heavily with Alfred's question because Alfred of all people should know he wasn't like that and if there was a girl in his life and he suddenly found a child with the almost the same DNA as him Alfred show know he probably wouldn't waste time pondering about the possible mother of the child. For a long time Bruce stay down in the Bat Cave re –running the test over and over again and running other tests. Nothing added up especially the fact that this child was the exact copy of him except for her one of her X chromosomes that made her DNA only 99.5% identical to his, which weird because if this child was really his offspring then its DNA would only be fifty percent identical to his and the other to its mother. According to the karyotyping he did of the girl's chromosomes the only thing she inherited from her mother was one of her sex chromosomes. Even though he some DNA to find out who the baby's mother was but when he scanned it the computer came up with no matches. Bruce knowing that there was no way he could just ignore the facts told Alfred to stop looking for orphanages with the conclusion that letting a kid with the same DNA as him walk around Gotham was probably more dangerous than letting her live here with him.

"So if we are going to keep the child what do you suppose we call her?"

"How about Darcy Wayne?" Bruce asked just to see Alfred smiling at him, which confirmed that Alfred wasn't opposed to the name.

From that day onwards Darcy grew up being hidden away from the public eye, Bruce decided that it was safe that way at least until she's old enough to at least fiend for herself. Darcy grew up with Alfred homeschooling and playing with superheroes that often stop by the Bat Cave to see her like Superman, Wonder woman, and many others. No matter how much Bruce tried to keep her from every thinking about trying on a bat suit he noticed that it was impossible because for reasons Bruce concluded was because of her DNA match with his she was resilient, strong, brave, courageous, intelligent way beyond her years, and the most important thing and what puzzled Bruce the most was that she knew every move, every fighting style he knew and more. Despite all these qualities that Bruce knew would making an amazing hero he still forbid her from putting on the burden of the black mask with the conclusion that it was just fatherly instincts, but it was more than that he did not want to see her hurt and he defiantly didn't want to watch his only string of family killed.


	3. Chapter 2

"What are you sighing about this time," Bruce asked tiredly walking into the kitchen to get breakfast. He quickly glanced over his shoulder after a couple of moments of silence from his fifteen-year-old daughter that her eyes glued to the television.

"A band of Joker wannabes robbed another Gotham bank."

"And?"

"And what dad? How can you just sit around and not do anything about this injustice?"

"I'm sixty Darcy that how-"

"That's it dad, I'm going to turn sixteen soon and you're still treating me like a little child! I want to be able to save people in Gotham city from bad guys like the father I looked up to, the father that was Batman, not you who sit at home in the safety of the mansion while people suffer," Darcy retorted as she turned around to see a nasty glare overtake her father's normal grouchy appearance. At this moment she knew that she had stepped on a very sensitive nerve, so she did what every normal teenager would do in this situation, which was go to her room before she received a boring lecture from her dad telling her about how dangerous his double life was and how he would never put another youth through that again. It sickened her that he was treating her like the other children he had ever worked with, after all none of them were ever his real child and somewhere deep down inside Darcy could feel that was the difference separating her from the rest.

Bruce sighed as he cringed at the sound of his daughter's door slam against its hinges. Just a couple of days, he told himself as he sat down to drink his coffee with a headache already creeping up upon him so early in the morning. He solemnly wished that Alfred was still here on the earth to take care of Darcy he was far better at handling her stubborn attitude, after all Alfred has been dealing with the same attitude with Bruce almost all his life. Even though Bruce couldn't handle his daughter he was keeping to his vow that he wasn't going to usher his daughter into his old night job; however, he had made plans to usher her into his day one as an apprentice president so that she can take over the Wayne corporation when he decides to retire or if in the worst case scenario he dies. Bruce only prays that all the paper work and demands of her new job will keep her busy long enough for her to give up the crazy idea that he will ever let her inside a bat costume. The very thought of unveiling his daughter to the rest of the world scared him, he knew that he couldn't contain Darcy any longer after all it would be wrong. Bruce knew the only reason she was always so restless about going out or putting on the bat costume was because of his paranoia. He never wanted to put her in a position of danger so he thought that isolating her from the knowledge of the rest of the world was the best thing he could do, but now that he retired from being batman and all his old foes were either in prison permanently or dead there wasn't really any reason to keep Darcy contained in the mansion anymore. Yes he knew what had to be done, it was letting go that was his problem. He couldn't stand the thought of his daughter hating him and the fact that they have never really had a real conversation before that has not ended in a splitting headache and the sound of her door slamming with aggregation.

In the end when the day of her birthday arrived he walked slowly towards Darcy's room not because it was morally wrong to keep her contained inside the mansion, not because her only friend might have been a 80 year old butler, or because he wanted to simply distract her from her hopes and dreams of one day becoming a black caped hero, but because he knew had failed as a parent figure by leaving Alfred with the duty of raising her while he neglected her because of his two jobs. He was doing this to make up for the countless tears he made her shed and the countless birthdays he either forgot or wasn't there for because of his work. With this intention backing up his decision to make her existence public by introducing her to the Wayne Company gave him confidence that he was doing the right thing. He knocked on her door after taking in a deep breath to give him strength to keep himself from backing out of this and canceling the press conference that he personally set up. When Darcy didn't answer his knock he rolled his eyes with irritation with the thought that she was probably still fuming from their last attempts at a conversation. So after waiting a second time for an answer he ordered her voice activated wooden door to unlock itself to reveal the sight of his daughter curled up in a corner of her room with a blanket wrapped around her while petting Ace, as she stared at the picture of Alfred holding her when she was two.

"What do you want?" she asked not looking away from the picture, which only stabbed Bruce's stone heart with more guilt. Usually her birthday was a day preserved for Alfred to make this day special for her, and he didn't know how his oldest friend entertained the growing child while following the rule that Darcy must stay within the mansion at all times.

"Why didn't you open your door?"

"Why bother since you can override the lock yourself," Darcy answered with the usual cold tone voice Bruce only heard her address him with, never Alfred. Alfred never had to be subject to her cold attitude and sharp tongue, Bruce thought as he sat down on her bed knowing that this was going to take a while to sort out.

"I came in to tell you two things the first is Happy Birthda-"

"So you finally remembered after sixteen years, big deal dad it doesn't win you any points."

"Will you let me finish?" Bruce asked with exasperation heavy in his voice that made Darcy take her eyes from her beloved late caretaker that Bruce took as a sign that he had her attention at least for now, so he continued the speech he had been rehearsing for months. "Well the second thing that I came to say is that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for forcing you to be contained within the limits of this mansion, and I'm sorry for all those years I have negelected you and dumped my responsibilities upon Alfred. I know I will never be able to make it up to you for all the lost time, but as a birthday present to make up for all the ones I forgot I'm taking you out to a press conference."

"Great my first breath of fresh air isn't going to be at an amusement park or restaurant, but at a boring press conference where I get to listen to you talk even more! No thanks, worst first try I ever seen though," Darcy answered dismissively while returning her eyes towards the picture of Alfred hoping that her father would get the picture that she was happy where she was mourning the death of her first and only best friend.

"Yeah, I guess it is a pretty feeble attempt, but for once can you do your old man a favor please come with me I have a surprise I hope you'll like. Before I forget this is a formal event, so-"

"I got it. dress nicely, go with you, smile, and then I can go back today dreaming about an enjoyable birthday," Darcy sighed agreeing to her father's request not because he asked for her to behave and follow his orders, which is what he meant by doing him a favor, but because this might be the only chance he will ever let her go outside and because it touch her slightly that her father came in here to ask for forgiveness, which was a gesture she never thought he would ever do. With a exhaustion and relief flowing through him he left with a slight smile playing across his face, but before he closed the door completely he heard his daughter squeal softly as she told the picture of Alfred that she was finally going outside with a sweet and tender voice that surprised Bruce it was like when it came to Alfred she was a completely different person. Whatever you did old friend you sure raised another good one, Bruce thought as he walk towards the foray to wait for his daughter.

"Okay Ace, dad said he wanted nice, which extremely uncomfortable dress is the nicest?" Darcy asked in desperation not knowing, which of the dresses that she gotten as presents from Wonder-woman during pass birthdays was the nicest after all to a tom-boy like her a dress was a dress and she couldn't see the difference between them. Even though she knew all the dresses would fit her father's idea of nice she wanted to look her best, after all it isn't everyday she gets to go outside. As she flipped through different dresses while Ace stood beside her she came across a dress that made a memory of the good old times reappear in her mind of when her father fought crime and Alfred was still alive. The memory was of her tenth birthday the last one she ever shared with Alfred and was the first time she ever met the Green Lantern, who at the time was part of her father's time in the Justice League, he ended up getting her a dress that was a few dress sizes too big for her at the time expecting that Batman's daughter was a lot taller and older. She could remember wearing it in front of Alfred only because he loved it so much in his words it was 'simply exquisite.' He promised her that one day this dress would fit her and make her beauty really shine, so naturally this was the dress she decided to wear not caring if she could find a dress that could top the beautiful baby blue dress with millions of tiny specks of glitter all over it. As she wore the dress that naturally draped perfectly around her body and flowed all the way to her ankles she wished that Alfred was here to see her to the point that she could almost imagine the words that would come out of his mouth, which in his case would probably be all the complementary adjectives from A to Z. With her dress picked out she decided to go all out by wearing makeup that she never thought she would ever be able to wear, styling her hair in a down style, and to top off her look she wore the things she feared the most the dreaded painful objects of torture ever created: heels. By the time she was done she could barely recognized herself in the mirror, which made a huge smile appear upon her face, she looked nice, even better than nice she might have even been boy drooling gorgeous, she thought as she left her room to meet her father.

"It took you long enough! For your sake you better look ni-" Bruce broke off as he saw what he was guessing was his daughter. By the way her father was speechless by her very present assured Darcy that she accomplished her goal.

"What's the matter dad? Can't recognize your own daughter?" Darcy asked with mischief written all over her face as her father snapped out of his shock and surprise to be left with suspicion.

"Are you sure you want to go out like that?"

"Did I overdo it? You did say that it was a formal event and I do look nice."

"Nice would be an understatement I better make sure to increase security," Bruce complained as he took one more look at the stunning beauty in front of him knowing that he was going to have a tough day ahead protecting Darcy from the wolves of the world called men. It would've been better to ask Darcy to change into something more conservative; however, this was her birthday and there has to be a really good reason that a very boyish girl decided to become more girly, so he let it slide after all it was kind of good to see her in something other than baggy clothes, he thought as both he and Darcy walked outside into his black stretched limo.

Darcy could hardly believe what she was seeing as she stared at the moving landscape through her window. She saw everything from kids happily playing on sidewalks to countless shopping malls. To Bruce, Darcy looked like how she did in a picture he saw of her first Christmas, which of course he left for Alfred to handle.


	4. Chapter 3

It wasn't long before they arrived at what Darcy concluded in her mind was the biggest building she had ever seen. As she stared gapingly at the massive building with millions of windows for the first time in her life she knew just how rich and powerful her father was, which only increased her secret admiration for him that only went up as they were escorted by a secretary to the conference room. This whole place seemed unreal to a girl that has never seen the real world especially the huge well furnished rooms and the fact that everyone that passed her father greeted him warmly to the point that Darcy thought that a few might actually start bowing and worship the floor her father had walked upon. When they entered the press conference room it was like the chattering of the reporters along with co-workers stopped dead with a dwindling silence, which shocked Darcy for a split second she never knew that one person could have so much control over the atmosphere of a room, so much power over people; because those people were definitely not gaping at her new attire. Bruce took hold of Darcy's hand as he walked slowly through the crowd that created a road to pass through towards a huge stage with a podium in the middle of it. Not knowing what was going on Darcy plastered on one of her best smiles as she freaked out about being on stage, she had thought that she just had to listen to the press conference not be a part of it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is lovely to see so many of you here today. I have called for this press conference because there has been a lot of talk and confusion about who was going to succeed me. Over the years I have been evaluating many people within the Wayne Corporation to make this very important decision that I'm going to announce today. My search will come to an end today, which means the person I have chosen will not be up for debate or discussion. So with further a due the special person I have chosen is a person I have known for a long time, a person who I think will display remarkable leadership, a person truly trust worth to succeed me, which is why this person was not chosen within the Wayne Corporation. This mystery person is my blood related sixteen year old daughter, Darcy Wayne." Bruce announced to have everyone in the room including Darcy herself stunned as if a bus was about to hit all of them smack in the face. It took a while before clapping began, which worried Bruce after all it shouldn't be all that of a surprise he didn't trust any employee of his in the room enough to entrust them with his precious company. His daughter was the only one who could possibly continue to lead his company into greatness good and well after he passed on. Despite his disappointment he made a mental note on the person who started the ripple of applause, a loyal worker under Wayne tech, Mr. McGinnis if anything he deserved raise at least for saving this press conference. Bruce could feel his daughter's questioning glare, but that was the least of his problems for now was the time for the reporters part in the press conference the dreaded Q&A. Many of them asked questions like if Darcy was really Bruce's blood related daughter, who was her mother, did he get married in secret or had Darcy out of wedlock. To all these questions Bruce more or less answered truthfully except for the questions asking about her mother, if he married her or not, and why they never seen Darcy. He answered that Darcy's mother was a dear friend that he attended high school with, named Ann Fin, she had died in child birth, and they were never married. For the reason he answered for why no one has ever seen her is that he kept her at home for the soul purpose to train her to become his successor. This baffled many people especially reporters and Darcy, who was told the same story however her father had never mentioned the name of her mother with the excuse that it was too painful to say. It puzzled how her father could say her name so effortlessly in front of the millions inside the room. But the more important question that was on Darcy's mind was why in the world had her father chosen her over the millions of experience and cable hands in the room. After a few minutes with a mischievous smile spread across his face he announced that the press conference was over and everyone can enjoy the refreshment table at the back of the room.

"Did those new blood pressure pills mess with your brain or something?" Darcy whispered to her father as they descended the stage to greet and socialize with Bruce's guests.

"Obviously you didn't read the side effects on the bottle; anyway don't you trust that I already have everything under control?" Bruce replied with a slight smile that showed both fake pride and joy to better help the situation. Darcy rolled her eyes as she wondered why no one could see through her father's act. But she still couldn't understand why her father, out everyone in the room he could have chosen, didn't choose his most experienced worker, but her that has never dreamt of being introduced into her father's world of the daytime. At that moment it hit her that he was probably slowly introducing her into his world of Bruce Wayne first before letting her into his world of Batman. For the first time in a long time as they weaved through the crowd greeting countless people Darcy could actually feel that her smile was genuine.

"So how do you like my birthday surprise?" Bruce asked a little louder than a whisper so Darcy knew that she had to be careful with the answer that she gave her father.

"Well I'm very surprised, and over whelmed," Darcy answered with a cool and calm voice that made her father squeeze her hand slightly, which told Darcy that he was satisfied with her response. As they walked around meeting people that she probably will met again so she made mental notes to remember faces along with names, Darcy couldn't help wonder why her father that was so kin on keeping her a secret decide to waste all his effort on a birthday present even if he was truly sorry for all the missed birthdays in her life. She didn't get her chance to ask her question for something caught her gaze to the point that it brought Bruce's attention to it as well. She was staring at Mr. McGinnis, but the more alarming part to Bruce was that she was fixated on the tall young man beside him who Bruce could only guess was his eighteen year old son. He wanted to avoid them completely, but once Mr. McGinnis caught Darcy staring in their direction he found that as an invitation to come and greet the Wayne family, while bring his son as well to Bruce's dismay.

"Good afternoon Bruce."

"And to you as well McGinnis, Darcy this is Warren McGinnis an employee of Wayne Tech, and this I presume is?"

"Oh this is my son Terry, I just brought him to show him what could be in store for him if he stays in school that is," Warren responded with an amused tone as he pat his son on the head that left Terry slightly irritated.

"It's an honor to meet someone of your caliber, sir," Terry greeted bowing slightly towards Bruce while smiling towards Darcy, which lit her face on fire. She couldn't believe that she was blushing all because this one boy smiled at her, but then again he was the first one she's ever been up close to before. Plus he looked exactly like the type of guy, girls on television describe as the prefect boy or a 'hottie.' For the reasons because he was tall, built to the right size, a spotless face, deep brown eyes, and raven black hair that was combed back. However, to Darcy just looking at him didn't bring words like hunk or stud to mind, but heart breaker, player, and clueless.

"Speaking of honors, I hope you except my request to show Darcy around," Bruce asked with a slight bow that was received by Warren McGinnis by agreeing to take on the job without knowing the true challenge of Bruce's request. Bruce was about to thank him when a snake gently took hold of Bruce's should to help let his presents be known.

"Brucy, it's so nice that you got up from your walker to grace us with your presents," a men in his mid-forties who had white hair and a tall frame greeted. Darcy didn't even need to look at her dad's reaction to the man before she could tell that this guy was a rat with a big ego. The type of person she hated the most and judging by the scowl that appeared on her dad's face he was thinking the same as well.

"Hello Derek, state your business."

"I came here to congratulate your stunning daughter," the man answered just to take hold of Darcy's hand to kiss it as a greeting, one which Bruce stopped by putting his hand over Darcy's in Derek's hands with a glare that made a smirk appear upon Derek's face. "You got me, Bruce can I have a moment with you?" he asked just to have Bruce grudgingly follow him to a secluded part of the press conference room.

"Who let the snake out?" Darcy asked with a snicker as she watched the direction that her dad had followed the Slime ball to talk to her dad about God knows what, but whatever it was Darcy could only guess it wasn't good.

"That's Derek Powers, and to put it lightly he's not exactly in Wayne's good books, so to say, not ever since he started to make advances to take over Wayne's corporation, but seriously apart from all that he's actually somewhat of a nice fellow."

"Yeah, and monkeys look harmless until they rip your face off, anyway isn't that the guy who fought for your position, but lost?" Terry questioned as both him and his father stared off into the direction of where they watched the heated debate of both Bruce and Derek as Bruce's face was over taken by a furious glare as Derek's arms were waving around in desperation to get whatever he wanted to get across to Bruce only to be argued in vain.

"Yeah-"

"Then I suggest you watch your back Mr. McGinnis," Darcy warned with a grave voice as she began to walk towards where her dad thinking of different excesses to save her dad from the clutches of Derek.

"Bruce you've got to listen to me my branch has created the ultimate weapon that could change the very foundation of modern warfare. This very technology could put the Wayne Corporation on the map, if only you give me the position of the executive of Wayne Tech."

"Fat chance Derek, you won't ever get to see a glimpse of that job, at least not unless Warren steps down from his position, and even then it'll be a bad decision to let you into an office of such power," Bruce declared with a dismissive tone that left Derek outraged, but he backed down knowing that it was going to be a waste of his breath to continue to persuade the stubborn old mule, but what was worse he knew that he had to get to the bottom of Bruce's plan in announce his daughter as the future head of his company.

"What did he want?"

"To make the Wayne Corporation into weapon dealers catering to the highest bidder," Bruce answered with an exasperated tone that made it clear to Darcy that this was a touchy subject for her dad, so for the rest of the party she smiled and acted as if all this really interested her. She hated acting fake but what else could she be when she was in an unfamiliar territory where the rich and snobby ruled over it, plus just being outside and seeing what the world on the other side of her room gave her a sense that she was an alien being out there interacting with people she has never met before. All the wonder for her ended once both her and her dad exist the corporation that she will one day sit head of, because she knew that her joy ride outside was over and now she was going to go back to her room to swim in the despair of yet another birthday without Alfred, a man who always found some way to put a smile on her face and make every day a memorable one. Bruce sensed the growing turmoil that was swirling around in his daughter. So he did something that he never thought he would ever see himself doing, but if it was to make his daughter's sixteen birthday an amazing one and make up for the others he was will doing anything. That anything included getting the driver to switch courses to taking them to Gotham's amusement park. To Darcy when she got out of the car and was graced with a sight other than the mansion especially one filled with carnival music, colorful daring rides, and greasy fatty food made her heart sore with emotion that she couldn't explain, but it was okay because deep down Bruce knew seeing Darcy relieving a childhood that she really deserved not being locked up in her own home was the only thing she deserved on a special day like this. When Darcy had tried every ride, game, and all the treats the carnival had to offer her father decided to end the day with taking her to a fancy restaurant. The very idea that her dad was pulling out all the stops for her filled Darcy's heart with a feeling she only ever felt with Alfred the feeling that she was being shown genuine love. Her dad may never be the crime fighting hero she used to fantasize about one day being again but she felt like there were no words to describe what she was feeling on the inside or no way to thank her dad for giving her a memorable birthday in place of Alfred. By the time they pulled up in the driveway of the mansion from dining at one of the fanciest restaurants in Gotham City, Darcy knew what she could do to thank her dad, which was a gesture she only ever gave to Alfred, but today her dad more than earned it, she thought as she wrapped her father in a huge hug. This gesture not only surprised Bruce but it also sparked a part in his heart that he thought would remain dead for the rest of his life, which was the part that gave you a sense of family, a sense he had never gotten from his daughter. As they walked into the house Bruce knew this moment of bonding will be gone by tomorrow, but just knowing that his daughter didn't completely hate him and that he hasn't failed as bad as he had thought with the whole fathering thing left a smile on his face.


	5. Chapter 4

The next day Bruce burst into Darcy's room bright in early just to receive two alarm clocks thrown at him and a few pillows before all his yelling for her to wake up got her up with a grouchy attitude that made Bruce wonder whether the same girl that he took to the amusement park was really the girl scowling at him from the seat in front of him in his limo. In the end he couldn't blame her after all she hasn't awoken this early since Alfred was still tutoring her, so it was a miracle he even managed to get her out of the house.

"You know I gave you warning ahead of time."

"Nowhere in the job description did it say that I had to get up at five to get ready for work at six in the morning!"

"Oh really I must have forgotten that detail."

"You're just lucky that I can't hit an old man," Darcy retorted with a grumble as she sank deeper into her seat as they grew nearer to Wayne Corporation. Unfortunately for Darcy it didn't take long to arrive at her father's corporation, and the first thing off the list of things she had to do before the end of the day was a tour of the corporation to see where everything was, what everyone did, and the most painful part to Darcy the company's history. A heavy sigh ushered out of her mouth as her father left her with Warren talking about where the magic of the creation of all her father's new technology takes place. By the time they went around half the building Darcy could hardly keep her eyes open. They were just about to leave the technology part of her father's company, which took up more than half of the tour, when she caught sight of a section that Warren either purposely didn't show her or just forgot, but judging by the sign that said 'Derek's property no unauthorized entry' he purposely avoided. It made her wonder what a creepy guy like him was doing in a private area where probably only a few could enter. Even though she never voiced her concern or her suspicion she could bet her whole bank account that he was up to no good that was for sure. The next part of the tour was learning about all the charities her father supported, which was slightly less boring than the tour around the new technology that her father's company was producing, but as she thought back on it, while only partially listening to the history of the company after Warren finished telling her all about all the charities her father had donated to, she figured that it wasn't really all that completely boring after all the technology that they were producing in Wayne Tech was all to better humankind, which brought her mind back to Derek. Why would her dad hire and keep an employee that didn't agree with his vision of peace? She soon put all her questions about her dad's rat at the back of her mind as she sat behind a desk in her dad's office where she found over a billion documents that Warren instructed her to read before hurrying out of the room with what Darcy could see was an emergency private call from his cell phone. She could hardly believe her dad was really making her do this, and after an hour skimming through a few documents she was wishing to be back in the comfort of isolation that her home brought before she was introduced to society, and to do what? Handle her dad's job while he was probably at home drinking tea and laughing at the fact that he got her good with giving all his responsibility to her. More hours passed as she read through the document of everything that her dad's company stands for, what he has done for Gotham, and all the major things that have ever happened like break-ins, stolen equipment, and security measures and by this time for the first time in her life she wished she could be a normal kid that didn't have to deal with a multi-billionaire company or seat there reading things that was about as interesting as watching paint dry, which seemed more appealing to her right now then being stuck there till either her dad came to take her home or when Warren decided to show up, but either way to Darcy both saving graces seem light-years away. As plans of escape crossed her mind everything from faking a fatal sickness to giving herself a concussion, which she figured would probably keep her away from this dreaded place for a month at least, with desperation almost lead her to put her plans in action when she heard footsteps just to look up expecting to see her soon to be sorry dad, just to sigh heavily as she caught the figure of Wayne Corporations biggest mystery, Derek Powers.

"Lost?" Darcy asked with a raised eyebrow as she glared at Derek trying to vent all of the growing irritation that she had gotten throughout the day upon him, but it didn't even faze him to her misfortune. She figured that he probably seen scarier most likely from her dad and the fact that he probably saw her as some kid playing in the big leagues.

"Quite the contrary little girl…is your daddy here?"

"How old do you take me for? And my father isn't around, so go back to the hole from which you came."

"I see you got the old man's attitude down pat, but it takes more than that to be considered his biological child-"

"What're you implying Mr. Powers?" Darcy asked with an edge in her voice as annoyance crept into both her face and voice as she felt anger fuming up in her as she watched a smug smile appear upon Derek's face. If only she was in a situation where slapping off that smug smile would be justified, was the thought that floated around in Darcy's head.

"I'm implying that you're a phony, a fake, not Bruce's legitimate child."

"Are you really in a position to be making accusation to your boss's daughter, because if I were you I would watch myself you might get fired."

"I doubt that highly after all a great deal of my own money is invested into you daddy's company, so without me bye-bye funding's-"

"With that much power you should be higher in this company or should've walked by now, but there is something that's keeping you here is it the facilities, scientists, power? Am I wrong?" Darcy asked as a mischievous smile manifested itself upon her face with a venomous edge that slightly pushed Derek to step down a notch as he realized just how much she was like his dinosaur of a boss, either she was an amazing actress or Bruce was telling the truth, either way she was a thorn stopping him from what he deemed rightful his so he made a note in his head he was going to have to deal with her as well.

"Well then I suppose my curiosity got the best of me after all it's not every day that the ruler of a multi-billionaire company suddenly announces his successor is his child no one has ever heard off."

"My dad likes to keep his private life private."

"Which in these days is a noble practice; anyway I'm looking forward to working alongside you Miss. Wayne, and hope that you will see me as a great ally," Derek concluded as he waved farewell to Darcy that just narrowed her eyes with greater suspicion wondering why he was retreating, what was he planning now that he had a little chat with her, and what he had hoped to gain by their conversation? Darcy collapsed on the desk knowing that she couldn't assume anything about that rat at least not until he makes the first move.

"Miss. Wayne, your father has informed me to tell you, your ride home is waiting in the parking lot," Mrs. Finn announced, which revived Darcy to the point she bolted pass her dad's secretary in a mad dash to get away from the paper work, nosy employees, and boredom that the very building brought to her. When Darcy hopped into the car what she saw shocked her mildly as she pointed towards the familiar boy sitting next to her father with a questioning look at her dad.


	6. Chapter 5

"Darcy you remember Warren's son Terry, well apparently due to a mishap with the law he has to do a year worth of community service; however, his father convinced me that if he did the hours helping me around the house would do him a lot better than anything the law could dish out on him."

"Careful dad people might mistake you for a miracle worker and send all their delinquents to you," Darcy snickered just to get a glare from her dad, but he soon redirected towards Terry who was trying to stifle his laughter. The rest of the car ride was silent as Darcy wondered why her dad was letting a complete stranger into their house even if he was the son to his favorite employee. In Darcy's mind nothing was adding up it seems the day she turned sixteen her whole life and way she use to live it seemed foreign to her now with all her new experiences and all the new people she has met, so she decided to let everything play out after all it was better than wasting too much of her brain cells in trying to figure out what was going to change due to all these new factors. They arrived home and Bruce gave Terry a list of to do things that haven't been completed since Alfred had died. Terry read out his first duty, which made a smile appear on both her dad's and her faces as Darcy whistled just to have a lean tall black dog trot across the staircase to answer Darcy's call, but as he was walking towards Darcy he smelled an unfamiliar scent and like all dogs he treated the new scent as a threat.

"Terry this is our dog Ace, Ace, Terry, so now that you are acquainted it won't be awkward," Darcy introduced just to have Ace barking wildly at Terry and snipping at his heels. This amused both Waynes to no end as Ace chased Terry towards the door. "Oh yeah don't worry Terry, fortunately he does bite."

"How is that fortunate?"

"Well at least it's fortunate for me, anyway have fun," Darcy replied as she went upstairs, but not before her dad stopped her by taking hold of her right arm, so she couldn't escape him into her secluded cavern known as her room.

"Did anything happen at work today?"

"No not really, just the norm you know a grand tour of the company, a history class on the charities you support, reading a truck load of interesting documents…what else I know I'm forgetting something…oh yeah a lovely talk with Derek Powers."

"Funny how that was the piece of information you had trouble remembering; anyway what did he say to you?"

"What can I say our talk might have been the only thing that didn't bore me; however, all I know is you should keep an eye on him," Darcy replied with a grave tone as she warned her father of her suspicions before breaking out of his grasp effortlessly to continue her journey to her room where she spent the rest of the night looking up whatever she could find on Derek Powers to find out just how much she needed to keep her guard up while she is at work.

"Mr. Wayne I finished everything on the list, can I go now?" Terry asked in an exhausted tone as he limped into the house after de-weeding Bruce's garden and replacing them with all sorts of different flowers, but the worst part for him had to be taking Ace out for a walk because he came back with bite and scratch marks all over his body. He started to look around the house when Bruce didn't answer him. As he searched all sort of rooms on the lower level he came across a golden bust of some person he figured was related to Bruce in what Terry guessed was Mr. Wayne's living room. As he approached the bust he notice something weird about the head of the bust; for some reason all around the head of the bust had a crack going through it as if someone had previously broken it or that the bust's head was meant to flip up. Whatever the reason was Terry was determined to figure out when he heard a menacing voice order him not to touch it, which made him jump back from it immediately just to see Bruce in the doorway of the living room glaring at him with anger.

"Sorry it was just that the bust looked kind of cool, and…"

"Since your finished please leave my property, do this every time you finished your time here Mr. McGinnis," Bruce ordered. Without a second wasted Terry was out of the house not wanting to anger Mr. Wayne any further not when he grew up hearing how scary he was when you crossed his bad side or step on a nerve from his father.


	7. Chapter 6

Darcy was awoken early to another day of work by her dad; however, where he found his daughter puzzled him slight as he thought back to seeing her a sleep at her computer desk as he arrived home from dropping his daughter off at his company to learn more about his industry. As he stepped into the house he could no longer contain his suspicion, so he ended up finding himself in her room looking up her recent history with the excuse in his head that every normal parent probably had snooped around in their child's room at one time or another. To his misfortune Darcy wasn't a regular teenager, and had her computer set to never keeping track of her time on the computer, which made Bruce even more determined to figure out what she was doing last night as he begun to hack the database of his daughter's computer.

"Sorry that I ran out on you like that Darcy, hopefully under the watchful eye of your father it won't happen again," Warren apologized as he took Darcy through Wayne Tech to get to her dad office where she was going to go back to reading the documents that she didn't get to yesterday.

"It wasn't a big deal and plus I haven't had to lift a finger since Terry started coming over," Darcy stated while smiling at the fact that she was able to chill in her room without having to go downstairs and give her dad pills every four hours during the afternoon.

"Well I suppose that's great to hear that my son is finally doing something constructive with his time instead of doing time…"

Darcy stopped paying attention to Warren as she felt a cold shiver go up her spine installing the feeling that they were being watched, but as she glanced around at people below and around her they all seem to be minding their own business and working hard on creating new products and manufacturing them. Darcy narrowed her eyes in suspicion as they left Wayne Tech knowing that there was definitely something going on and for some reason Darcy could only see Derek as the person to blame. She hated the fact that she was judging someone on the soul reason that she gets a bad vibe from him, but as her dad always told her that in Gotham it was expected to expect the unexpected. Her dad's secretary put a bunch of files on her desk as she was just finishing all the documents from yesterday. The files that the secretary placed on her desk were employee profiles that Mrs. Finn assured her that it was necessary for her to read to learn about all the employees working at the company she'll be leading in the future. Darcy flipped through them only caring to look at their name, family situation, medical health, and job prescription to lock away in her photo graphic memory even though she knew that it was even retaining the useless things as well like the rest of their boring life stories. When she came across Warren's file she actually took care in reading as she read that he had divorced his wife and had two sons in which the older one lived with him and younger one, Mathew, was with his wife, Mary McGinnis. It seemed that Terry had been in wrongs with the law all through his life, hanging out with the wrong people, and nearly got a record but the judge sentenced him to juvy instead of jail only because of his age at the time. Even though Warren's file was supposed to be all about him she found out more information about his family than she did about Warren, but then again to her he seemed like an open book a good man that went to Hamilton High and graduated from university with a spotless record, so in the end she could see why there wasn't much written about him. After finishing his file it gave Darcy an idea if this stack of files had information about every employee that meant that Derek Powers was also in this pile, she thought as scanned. By reading Derek's file she found out that he had a family like other people; however, it was just him and his son, Paxton, since his wife died of unknown causes years ago, which only made Darcy's suspicion grow. She also read that his father had a company that was known for producing weapons to sale all over the world, but now her dad took over some of Derek's father's facilities and the money that Derek inherited from the company is used to supply a company called Powers Corporation, which shocked Darcy because if all this was true that meant that even though her dad was the main ruler over this company, but Derek was like a co-ruler since he ruled over everything that her dad bought off Derek's father, and if she could remember clearly that made him the third most powerful man right next Warren being the second and her father being the first. In her mind she erased her dad out the equation because in the end he was getting old and Derek was probably counting on him living for a short while longer or being forced into retirement, but his real threat was both Warren and her after all Warren was a perfectly healthy man in his thirties, by the time Warren has to retire he'll probably have to as well. There is no way he was going to become the head not with someone half his age taking her dad's seat. So the only question now was how was he planning to get rid of the competition without getting caught red handed? As she thought over this question and begun to read his file again she noticed that the part of job progress was empty, but Darcy didn't have time to add that to the things to pounder about as she watched the door to her dad's office open to reveal a massive figure of a guy with brown skin and a scary across his eye. Darcy didn't even need to look at him twice before the warning bells in her head went off sending her guard up as well.

"May I ask who you are?"

"Good afternoon Miss. Wayne I was instructed to give you a cup of tea from the directors that further fund your father's company as a welcome gesture," the man answered, but Darcy wasn't pleased with the answer she wanted him to state his name, so that she could at least sort through the employee files to figure out if he really didn't belong here as much as he looked it.

"Leave it here and get out, as you can see I'm busy."

"As you wish Miss. Wayne," he said while bowing and leaving the cup of tea in front of her with a smile before showing himself out. Darcy examined the cup tea wondering what was really in it and who really sent that guy, after all she knew that it couldn't of been from the board of directors, because they didn't seem interested in her on the day her dad introduced her for a birthday present. Well she wasn't going to try it herself but she definitely wanted to find out what was so special about this cup of tea that the board of Directors couldn't deliver it in person to her. So she got out her cellphone and pressed on a button that had the letter S and the number 5 written across it. The button brought up five options between taste, smell, hear, touch, and see in which she picked the taste option and a white slip came out of the black phone that Darcy stuck into the tea. The second the slip of sensory paper hit the tea a computer voice in her phone came on telling her that it was an unknown substance over and over again while a picture of a skull appeared on her phone screen. Even though Darcy was no closer to finding out the content of the cup of tea she was glad that she didn't drink it as she witnessed the sensory paper denigrate into thin air. This was probably the first time one of the gadgets she installed in her blackberry actually saved her life but judging by the path she was headed down it wasn't going to be the last time. Darcy's often installed new features in her everyday stuff like super power jets in a bag that Alfred gave to her when she was nine, but her cell phone was probably her most useful up grade ever because not only did it do all the normal features of calling, texting, music, and games, but it also had a database identical to the one in the master computer in the bat cave, so all of the information on people her dad ever gathered was stored on her phone; it had a human sense scanner where the taste option could match the taste of anything to where it was originated, located, and right down to its molecular form. The senses of hearing and seeing can help her match a sound to its origin or match a face or object to the database she downloaded from the bat cave while her father was on a business trip also they can recreate anything they scan, and finally touch allows her figure out the texture, origin of the martial she puts her phone on. Also her phone could act as a stun gun, had a self-homing device so that no matter where Darcy left it, it was programed to come back to her, and it had access to all news networks, police radio waves and it acted like a pocket knife.

Darcy knew as she put her cell phone back in her pocket, that she need to find out who sent that guy to kill her with a substance even her phone couldn't identify, which meant the substance was recently discovered or it was man made, but first she needed to get out of this place before the person who wanted her dead realizes their plan back fired. In the end it was quite easy to sneak out of her dad's company when she had where all the security cameras, ventilation shaft openings, and pretty much the whole blue print of the company memorized thanks to her photo graphic memory. The tricky part was how she was getting home without any money or a car. As she pondered her dilemma a bunch of kids came riding passed with skate boards and scouters, and as they zoomed away from her she took out her phone and quickly scanned a kid with a motor scooter just press the recreate button on her phone to see a digital remake of the child's means of transportation. She hoped on her brand new green scooter with one destination in mind to get home.

Bruce was still fiddling with Darcy's computer; he was so close to hacking her system he just needed to figure out the final password to the last firewall protecting her system after spending the entire day hacking into eight defense systems that each had a password that involved some form of Alfred's name encoded in a series of numbers and signs; however, this password was different and no matter in what language or code of Alfred's name he put in all of them were denied. Until it hit him all he did was write bat man in the empty blank to unlock her computer to see that his daughter stayed up late researching about Derek Powers.

"What are you doing?" Darcy questioned as she stood in the door way of her room glaring at her dad, while wondering what was so interesting on her computer that her dad had broken a serious privacy law. No one goes into her room and snoops through her stuff especially when she isn't at home. Bruce turned around to make up an excuse to curve her anger, but what came out of his mouth was a question about why she was home so early and how she got home. Darcy played with the idea of telling her dad she almost was killed at work today, but was it okay to alert her dad when she wasn't even sure who was the person behind this case? In the end she told her dad the whole thing after all what else could she do and plus she needed something to get out of trouble for skipping work today.

"Are you sure the tea was poisoned?"

"Gee maybe I should've drunk it and dropped dead, of course I'm sure it was poisoned," Darcy replied with annoyance that her dad would doubt her for a moment.

"Do you think Powers is behind it?" Bruce asked while pointing to her recent places on the internet that all had searches about Mr. Powers, which caused Darcy to sigh with annoyance as she told him that she didn't have any concrete proof that he was, but she had an extremely good hunch it was him and she convinced her dad by telling him her theory about what she thought was Mr. Powers' master plan was to capture and rule over her dad's whole company.

"If your theory is correct than we have to warn Warren about this-"

"It's too late take a look at this," Darcy interrupted her dad as a message appeared upon the news network application on her phone that allows her to receive news as soon as it happens and right on top of the list was a report on the death of Warren McGinnis that was killed when his house got broken into and the men shot him dead. "But I don't get it shouldn't he be still at the office?"

"Didn't he tell you that I was sending him on a business trip in my place so I gave him the day off, and Mrs. Finn was supposed to watch over you?"

"Must have slipped my mind," Darcy answered with a guilty crack in her voice as she admitted that he probably had told her when she wasn't paying attention to him. Bruce couldn't ignore the facts plus he always knew that Powers was no good. He probably should've dealt with him a long time ago before he could go this far, before his hunger for power could lead to the possible death of his daughter and the one of his most loyal employee. The very thought that he let Derek Powers slide under the radar made fury boil with in Bruce to the point he almost wished he wasn't too old to put on the bat suit. The only thing Bruce think of doing to make it up to Mr. Warren was to find hard cold evidence to get Derek locked up behind bars. To avenge Warren he went down to the caverns of his house to a place he never hoped to ever visit again the bat cave; which Darcy was more than happy to follow him not only because being the bat cave was her dream along with putting on the suit that represented a legacy she always hoped of being a part of.


	8. Chapter 7

"Why is it so hard to trace Powers' tracks?" Bruce questioned as he felt the toll of staring at a screen for most of the night with little progress.

"You know this is getting us nowhere, why don't you go up, and let me take a crack at this-"

"But-"

"But nothing dad, before you go on a senseless rant about how I'm not ready for this, why don't you give up already you can't continue to treat me like a defenseless child plus it isn't like I'm asking to do anything dangerous," Darcy argued determined to get this idea out of her dad's head that she was this delicate flower that could crumble right before his eyes at any second if he let her do anything remotely close to Bat Man work. After some consideration he sighed with defeat as he removed himself from the seat after ordering Darcy to keep track of all the information that she uncovers and their sources. Darcy was overjoyed as her dad's footsteps disappeared deeper into the mansion. Since her dad couldn't find any news of Derek's work on the international science network where anyone who's anyone in the science world posted their findings and who funded, any of the private markets, or on the phony web site he had created to misguide people that he was actually doing something to benefit America with his research. The only way Darcy was going to get answers was to look in the most forbidden and hardest website to get into unless you were an exclusive member given permission from the person who runs the black market themselves, which made her smile as she wondered how hard it was going to be to hack their data base. To her delight it was going to take some time and brain power to crack into it, which she had freely at her disposal. As Darcy worked feverously at cracking every firewall and defense program blocking her from easy access she heard footsteps on the staircase down to the bat cave, which made Darcy roll her eyes as she ripped her face away from the screen while prepared to have another battle with her dad about his let go issues. When Ace pricked up and started barking wildly as if there was an intruder advancing into the bat cave, which Darcy thought was completely impossible until she froze as she started at who Ace was barking at. Could this actually be happening? Darcy thought as she started at Terry McGinnis for some time before she regained her composure.

"What is this, no, where is this?" Terry questioned as he looked around just to catch sight of the cases where all the costumes that the previous night crusaders had worn to keep the streets of Gotham safe.

"It would be an understatement to say you're not supposed to be here," Darcy stated as she lunged at Terry to pin him with her arm across his neck and pressed a button on her phone that whipped out a small knife, which made Terry raise an eye brow as he gave her a look that made her back down slightly but not letting him out of her pin, but at least she retracted the pocket knife.

"I came here to see if you had any information on my dad's death," Terry asked with a plead in his face that made Darcy shrink back as she remembered how much this must hurt him, she could say she could relate but losing Alfred had to be nothing compared to losing a person who was related by blood.

"We don't know who tried to kill your father or attempt to kill me, all we know is whoever that person is there in my dad's company," Darcy answered while walking back to the computer to finish encrypting codes and hacking into the data base of the black market.

"Since they were after you then you should have at least a couple of leads."

"We do but at this point it could be anyone in the company after all not many people liked the idea that I just showed up out of nowhere," Darcy answered trying to keep as vague as possible in hopes that she could solve this mystery before giving Terry the full facts knowing that if she tells him her suspicion he may do something stupid and judging by the wildness of anger that bared in his face that he was probably going to do something that Darcy would deem stupid.

"Yeah but connect the two there isn't many people that wanted my dad as well-"

"Silence," Darcy demanded as she broke the last burrier in between her and the information that will clear up this whole mess for her, and hopefully prove her hypothesis on who was behind all this. She typed Derek's Powers name just to get two hits from buyers from Russia and China who were bidding against what Derek's scientists called a super virus that released large amounts of radiation that burned your body from the inside out. He was recreating the disease to the point that it could kill off more than half of America's population itself, so just thinking about the type of damage that biological weapon could cause on the battle field made an ice cold chill rush through Darcy. Now everything was becoming clear Derek needed Warren out of the way to take over Wayne Tech so he could produce the product in a greater quantity in less time, and he knew that even if he did managed to get Warren's job he still needed to get rid of Darcy because he knew she would never allow it even if her dad did end up dyeing soon leaving her to run the company. To make everything clear she plugged her phone into the computer to try to see if the substance that her phone collected matched up with the chemical formula of the substance that Derek was producing. Well that wasn't very much of a shock, Darcy thought as she saw a check mark across the screen of her cell phone notifying her that she got an exact match.

"Does all this mean it was Derek Powers? I knew he was a rat, but to go this low he's going to pay!" Terry exclaimed as he went towards the glass casing of the bat costumes, which Darcy rolled her eyes at as she watched him touch the casing just to be shocked by the security measure.

"Derek will pay, and that why we have the pol-"

"Really you're just going to seat there like a coward? I'm betting your dad was bat man in his golden years, so I have one question why aren't you following in his footsteps? Is it because you rather stay here safely minding your own business while people suffer?" Terry challenged just to hit every nerve in Darcy's body. What was she thinking? This was her chance to show her dad she could do what all the past heirs to his legacy couldn't and that was to carry it on. With determination in her face Darcy switched of the defense mechanism with a touch of the glass cases. Terry picked the newest batman costume her dad invented just in case he ever had to go back into the field because it increased both his speed and strength ten times, and it was also equipped with a built in computer that allowed him to see in twelve different types of visions, had a radio connected to the bat cave, and had a cloaking device, super turbo jets in his feet and retractable wings. This new costume also came with a design that Darcy made up herself, which got rid of unnecessary things like a cape, and made so that the suit covered every inch of the user's skin with the black fabric of the costume to give nothing away of the identity of the user. Finally the last thing that she changed was her dad's old symbol of a bat across his chest, it was no longer black, but a chrisom red to add a little bit more of the fear factor to the costume.

"Wow this is amazing, it fits perfectly."

"That's because it's programed to adjust to fit its user," Darcy replied as she slipped out of a dark corner of the cave to reveal a costume that she had made in secret from her dad's designs of Terry's suit. Her suit had all the same features as Terry's and many more. She even added all the upgrades she put on her phone in her costume. The design of her costume covered every inch of her body except at the back of her hair that was done up in a pony-tail, a black mini skirt draped across her waist with a pink bat symbol across her chest.

"Whatever happened to let the police take care of everything," Terry teased as he tried to hide the fact he thought that Darcy looked smoking hot in her costume, but that thought didn't last as they both heard movement from above them, which could only mean one thing Bruce was coming any moment. Darcy quickly dragged Terry to their motor vehicle room where she threw him into what her dad named the Bat Jet-X and hit a button that made the a whole in the ceiling of the bat cave where Darcy commanded it to take flight as she grabbed hold of the stirring wheel. Darcy managed to get her dad's greatest gadget out of the bat cave okay as she wondered how much trouble she was going to be in after this whole mess was over for breaking all the rules, the very thought made Darcy cringe with fear as her and her new accomplice flew speedily through the night.

As Bruce walked down the stairs to the bat cave his eyes narrowed with suspicion as he wondered why the indicator in his room warned him that there has been a bridge in the security of the costume cases. The sight that Bruce saw both shocked him and made fury boil into a flaming mess through his body as he saw that one of the costumes were missing probably due to Darcy having identical finger prints to him, the thing that tipped him off the enraged scale was seeing his most prized position gone for a joyride with his daughter. The only saving grace was that Darcy left all the information that she had gathered open on the computer for him to access the problem and come up with a quick and effective plan to bring his daughter back, but deep inside he knew something didn't add up. Why would Darcy take a boy costume even with the fact it was the most high tech costume he ever created it still wouldn't fit her physic even with the program he installed. Whatever his daughter was up to he vowed that she was so grounded for the rest of her life.


	9. Chapter 8

"How much trouble do you think we'll get into?"

"You mean if we aren't killed by Derek, then I predict grounding and eternal solitude for me and you well you'll be lucky if he doesn't kill you," Darcy replied just to have Terry swallow hard as they both turned their attention towards the building that grew nearer and nearer every passing moment until they came face to face with Wayne Industries. Darcy landed the jet on top of the building so they wouldn't be seen by anyone who was roaming the streets at night.

"Shouldn't we make a plan before we walk into enemy lines?" Darcy asked as she rolled her eyes with the sight of seeing Terry jumping into the ventilation system with no clue how to get to Wayne Tech through them.

"We'll think of one just follow me," Terry replied as he plunged himself down into the ventilation shaft. With a heavy sigh Darcy caught him before he could reach the bottom of the long shaft and with one fowl sing of her hand tossed Terry out the ventilation system, because there was no way Darcy was going to follow this kid to her death. As they crawled through the darkness of the dusty tunnels in the ventilation system they both nearly jumped as a furious voice blared throughout the radios in their bat ears.

"What in the world do you children hope to prove?"

"I think the same question could be asked of you dad," Darcy answered as she switched off the com in her head, and soon after hearing the whip lash of Bruce's anger Terry did the same with the an engulfing fear raising through him, it was a fear that people only come across when a child knows that they have done something wrong and the fact occurs to them that there is no way to get out of it. The only emotion that overrode his guilt was his urge, his hunger to avenge his father and bring the slime bag that killed him to justice.

"How pissed off is your dad right now?"

"Very, he may pop a vein," Darcy snickered as she stopped at an opening in the shaft in which she knew was right above where all evil in Wayne Enterprises lay dormant just readying himself to wreak his havoc across the world, something Darcy couldn't and wouldn't allow to ever happen. As both children of the night stared down into the caverns of evil where they saw the classic laboratory with men running around in white trench coats and computers humming and beeping in over drive, but all that paled in comparison to what Darcy and Terry had their attention glued onto, which was the two men in the middle of all the chaos of the laboratory scene talking to each other about what Darcy was guessing the master plan.

"Hey put your hand over the vent and press the other one to your ear," Darcy whispered to Terry as she followed her instruction to better hear what the two men were scheming, the one that ordered her death and the one that was his errand boy.

"As you ordered we killed that executive guy, now pay up," The man who had delivered Darcy the tea that afternoon demanded as he waved over a group of his goons as if to put more emphasis on his demand by threating Derek with the good old odds of ten to one.

"Well I would never stiff you, Uriah and your gang, on a job well done; however, I told you to kill Warren McGinnis and Darcy Wayne, and so the question I want to know is what happened to her?"

"Nobody knows she disappeared after I delivered the poison, but with all that aside we still want our cash Mr. Powers."

"I suppose you carried out all my orders prefectly and who knows what condition the old geezer's daughter's in after all it takes twenty four hours for the poison to take its kill," Derek claimed as he clapped his hands just to have a man in a black suit present the gang with a suit case, which Darcy could only guess was filled to the brim with cash. When were the bad guys ever going to get more original she thought as the gang's leader bowed towards Derek after expecting the amount of money presented to him. With that the gang bid their supplier farewell and were heading off, which made Terry want to jump in that second so that they could take revenge on the gang along with the man that ordered them to end his father's life, but Darcy kept him in place with a glare that told him he better stay put or the bad guys may not be the only ones that feel the sting of the justice she was readying herself to dish out.

"Sir, the lethal mutagenic nerve gas has been packaged and is now ready to go to their destination, but is it really wise to sell the weapon to both countries?"

"Why not Dr. Li they both equally want my fine product, and I would hate disappoint one-"

"And you know it's just a bonus if you end up with double the cash, so that's your game," Darcy added as she swooped down towards the laboratory beneath her surprising both Derek and Terry.

"Oh really what is this the thirty-first of October please the whole batman thing was washed up years ago," Derek sneered as he tried to stifle his laughter with the mere thought that these kids believed they could stop him by playing dress up of the real thing that was now a simple scary legend to all evil out there in Gotham one that will never ruin their plots or schemes ever again.

"You should be honored to be the first piece of scum we throw in jail Mr. Powers," Terry entered just to stun Derek even further that there wasn't only one of them there were, but two, which only meant to him that he was going to need to pay extra to get these two brats exterminated, but knowing that this was his chance to make his mark on the world as the sole ruler of Wayne Enterprise and the inventor of a revolutionary weapon then he couldn't afford any distractions, whether they will cause him trouble or not so with a whistle he called back the gang that had murdered Warren McGinnis to get rid of the bat children for double the coast. This brought a smile to Darcy's face as she braced herself for anything her oncoming attackers could throw at her. The gang commenced the fight with attacking both Darcy and Terry in two groups of five, which didn't even faze Darcy after all with all the training and hard work that Alfred put her through secretly to prepare her for this very day made her more than ready to kick villain butt. So as fists and legs swung at her, she effortlessly dodged them while countering them with a deadly swiftness that left most of her attackers on the ground gasping for mercy. Seeing as how she finished taking out her attackers, left her mind focused on Terry as she saw that he was having trouble defeating the flies that were swarming around him, so after defeating the last couple of attackers with moves that she had come across on television when Alfred used to watch the wrestling channel.

"Need some help?" Darcy asked as she flipped into the fray between Terry and his half of the gang members. Even though Terry felt that she was looking down on him especially since she had taken down all her attackers in half the time it has taken him to defeat two out of the five men attacking him, but in the end he grudgingly agreed to her offer. His reluctant attitude made Darcy snicker as she reached into her gadget belt to retrieve two tiny balls that she threw to the ground just to have the whole room filled to the brim with smoke, which gave the two bat children the upper hand because their heat vision allowed them to see through the smoke screen. Without a second to lose as the smoke began to dwindle slowly both Terry and Darcy commenced in taking out the rest of the bad guys before the smoke cleared to reveal to Derek that they may prove to be more trouble than he expected two children playing dress up to be as looked around at the sight of the gang rolling on the ground in pain.

"Who are you kids?"

"Why can't you tell Batgirl and Batman obviously," Darcy replied with a curtsy as Terry bowed. This form of mockery made fury boil through Derek as he commanded the leader of the gang that stood next to him that he would pay the leader triple for the extermination of these two thorns in his side. With an evil smile the leader promised to deliver them dead to Derek as he charged towards the kids.

"Sir, the plane is loaded and ready for takeoff at any moment," Dr. Li reported as he came out of the hanger that was right next to Derek's lair. Derek smiled with pleasure as he snuck away towards the hanger knowing this was his chance to make a clean get away by taking flight with the cargo.

"Notify the pilot that we take off this instant," Derek whispered to Dr. Li which made the scientist run ahead to follow out his orders from Derek. Darcy caught Powers leaving the room with the corner of her eye as she was slammed towards the ground by Uriah with one massive swing of his hand that smacked her across the face. This left Darcy burning with fury as she reached into her belt to get a gadget that will defeat the oversized gorilla of a man, but Terry stopped her with a determined look across his face. The very gesture left Darcy curious and annoyed knowing what was coming next was probably going to be another bad idea that Terry has roped her into tonight.

"I got this guy, you go after Derek-"

"Are you crazy? This guy, he'll kill you!"

"Well isn't that better than letting Derek get away?" Terry retorted just to have Darcy back away from the fight with a conflicted face knowing that Terry was right, but something deep down wanted her to continue to fight and make sure Terry didn't end up hurt or worse dead. In the end she sucked up her worry knowing that she needed to trust that her partner knows what he's doing or at least will be able to stay alive until she gets back, she thought as she dashed out of the room.

"Looks like your girlfriend has abandoned you, poor bat loser, don't worry she'll join you soon enough."

"I would be more worried about myself if I was you," Terry replied with cold venom reign throughout his voice as he mustered up all his pain and rage to channel through this fight. He wanted to make sure this man knew exactly how he felt when he had arrived home from school just to see that his dad was long dead; he didn't even get a chance to defend his dad or even apologize to him for being such a routine kid because of his parent's divorce. All he ever did was argue and defy his dad, and now he was gone and there was nothing he could do about it, but become the child his dad always wanted a child that did the right thing, and to start with his transformation he had to bring this guy down. With a deep breath he lunged into a one on one fight with a man that had to be five weight classes above him, which only increased Terry's determination to prove to Darcy, Mr. Wayne, and his dad that he could do this.

While war waged forward in the laboratory Darcy was sneaking through the hanger as she watched Derek talking to a bunch of scientists that handed him a suit case before allowing Derek to care on towards the plane that was already started as if Derek didn't want to waste a second in escaping from his brat infested hide out. Too bad for him Darcy had another idea in mind, which was bringing him down, and bringing him down is what she did as she launched into the air and acrobatically bashed Derek's face with a kick upon landing.

"Honestly, you did you think you'd escape that easily?" Darcy teased with amusement as she watched the smug look upon Derek's face disappear as he glared up at her from the ground.

"You're going to regret that," Derek declared as he stood up to dust himself off and whip the hot streaming chrisom liquid from his nose before he confronted Darcy with a gun from his pants pocket. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this I do hate getting my hands dirty," Derek complained with a snicker as he drew back the trigger to fill the air with an intoxicating bang that scent not only a bullet flying but smoke as well. When the smoke cleared Derek expected to see Batgirl on the ground dead or at least gasping for dear life, but he saw none of the sort as he came face to face with Batgirl still standing in front of him as if he had never taken the point blank shot at her. His confusion made an amuse smile play at the ends of her lips, which only enraged Powers further as he didn't believe that the bullet actually hit her as he started to shot at her continually until his barrel was completely drained.

"This can't be. How is this possible?" Derek demanded with fury increasing his tone in volume. Darcy just snickered as she dropped every single bullet in front of him, which only sent him into further confusion as he tried to come up with a logical explanation for her being able to do what normal people couldn't, but he didn't have time to think too long the matter not with Darcy hammering him across the face with one blow of her fist, which nearly knocked him over. Feeling the smashing pain erupt from her blow led Derek to open his eyes to the fact that he couldn't win, but if he ordered the pilot to start the plane then the brats would be at a lost as well, Derek thought as he yelled take off so loud that the pilot with in the plane immediately took the plane upwards.

The very sight of the plane slowly drifting upward away from Darcy's reach to be allowed into the hands of people that planned to miss use the virus to take down their enemies with total disregard for human life angered her to the point that her last blow was a powerful kick to Derek's stomach that left him hurling towards the left over crates in the hanger. Darcy started to charge towards the plane with her extendible bat graveling hook that she shot from the center of her belt at the plane just to be zooming through the air as the plane completed its lift off into the sky. As Darcy clung to the graveling hook rope she heard a blood curdling scream as she saw green smoke coming out of the hanger exist that the plane took to get out of Wayne Enterprise. It occurred to her then that the crates she slammed Derek into must have had the lethal mutagenic nerve gas in it for later export to someone willing to make him rich in exchange for his destructive weapon. Wow, isn't irony sweet, Darcy thought without any remorse for the rat and his doomed future, after all as far she was concerned he deserve everything that befell upon him for taking the life of Warren.


	10. Chapter 9

"Hey, Batman to Batgirl do you read?"

"Quit with the spy speak," Darcy replied as she pressed her finger towards her bat ear to better hear Terry through her bat com.

"Your just as much fun as the old man you know that?"

"Spare me the jokes, and get to the point."

"Mister Big and Ugly is officially out of commission, and how about you what's happening on your end? Do you need help?"

"Tell you what why don't you go back to the jet, and call the police," Darcy answered while shutting of her com linked to Terry's to get rid of all the annoying distractions around her as she climbed into the plane. She snuck up quietly towards the pilot of the plane just to see him shaking violently as if he was actually scared of her very presents, and to a degree that was true but he was more afraid of what punishment he would receive for helping a soon to be criminal in his scheme.

"So captain, are we going to do this the easy-"

Darcy broke off as the man shoved his elbow towards her face, which sent her flying into one of the walls of the metal plane. Seeing that he at least had a chance at betting her the pilot put the plane on auto-pilot and started to charge towards Darcy with a crowbar that he retrieved from his glove box. A huge sigh lurched out of Darcy's mouth as she wondered why all the bad guys always chose the hard way. Well in the end it didn't really matter to her, because she enjoyed watching this man's feeble attempt to get rid of her as she dodge a blow from his crowbar just to watch him lose his footing with one swing of her legs towards his, and he fell right out of the plane without much of a fight. Before the man could fall into the water bellow Darcy caught him with her graveling hook, which she tied the line to the plane leaving him hang upside down as she overrode the auto-pilot. Darcy ended up landing the plane right outside Wayne Enterprises to better help the police officers that now swarmed the place with their investigation. As she saw police officers rushing towards the plane to find out who was the lunatic that decided to land a plane in a public street without a runway Darcy activated her cloaking device, so when the police got to the plane all they saw was the pilot tied up to the front seat as Darcy sneaked out of the plane with where they landed the Bat Jet in her sights. The two teens could hardly believe that they pulled that off and managed to survive their first mission as crime fighters of the night, but as they soared through the sky lit by the dawning sun to give life to a new day they both knew what awaited them was far from cheerful.

"Do you two have any idea the consequences of what you did?" Bruce yelled as both teens stood before him with their masks off. Darcy could hardly believe she was even getting this lecture they end up avenging Warren's death and saving the world from a lethal virus, in her books she thought she at least deserved a job well done from her dad, but of course he was the only one she knew who could look past all the facts that she was an adult and a very capable one at that and see a little girl that had tea parties with Alfred.

"We do dad, we saved the world from a lethal gas, and brought justice to the men that killed Terry's dad, but the only question is why are we getting in trouble for doing something right?"

"You disobey me to do it, and you even brought an outsider into the fray."

"Sir, that wasn't Darcy's fault she tried to stop me, but-"

"Silence I'll deal with you later, but first you Darcy."

"Yeah I know I'm grounded spare me the lecture, and to think I was I actually ready forgive you, anyway I'll be up in my room," Darcy concluded as she headed for the exit of the bat cave.

"Darcy wait!" Bruce ordered as he grabbed her hand because he wasn't in the least bit done with her, but when Darcy turned around her glare made him forget his whole lecture and his punishment for her. He had seen that face before and even till this day it still haunted him it was the same face she wore at Alfred's funeral.

"I'm giving you a choice it's either me or your failed excuse of protection," Darcy stated as she turned around to face her dad that had a conflicted face as he hesitated with both choices. He wanted his daughter to be as happy as the next girl, but how could he live with himself knowing that the only family that he had next to Alfred was gone like him all because she wanted to play hero like the other kids he ever took into his care. Looking at his daughter's face he knew that if he chose her later option she would truly hate him, and he doubt that he'll ever be able to reach her if he was dead to her. He could only guess would only leave him with higher blood pressure and even more trouble dealing with her. Man, if only Alfred was here, Bruce caught himself thinking again within this week. He didn't even need to think hard before he knew what Alfred would have said in this situation he would've asked him his real reason for not letting Darcy become a creature of the night after she's proven herself on so many occasions that she was fully capable for the job. Alfred would have won the argument like the one he won a year before he died. He had convinced Bruce for a while that she was made for more than sitting around the mansion and playing with a man way passed his golden age, she was meant to look after Gotham as part of his legacy. All Alfred's convincing went to waste when he died leaving only Darcy to consider as family so he figured it was in both of their best interest if she never had to confront the bat world and have to risk her life cleaning up Gotham. But was it still in their best interest if it meant losing the only person left that he held dear? He knew he didn't really have to ask that because by this time he already knew what the right choice was.

"Fine Darcy you win, you can continue playing hero as long as you follow my conditions."

"And what would your conditions be?" Darcy asked with narrowed eyes not full bought into the fact that her dad had just given her permission to be Batgirl again.

"You have to have Terry with you for every mission to protect you and you'll be enrolling in high school like Alfred always wanted," Bruce answered as he walked away from them to get some sleep after worrying for the whole night, well actually he was trying to escape Darcy's rage more than anything.

"Are you serious?" Darcy demanded as her dad grew closer towards the exit to the bat cave. She could hardly believe her dad was entrusting such a job to this guy that probably will need her to save him a lot more than she'll ever need from him. But she couldn't stay angry with him after all he had chosen her happiness over his paranoia.


	11. Epilogue

"Blood pressure is stable, open the incubator," a scientist commanded as him and his colleges all stood around what looked like a mechanical coffin. They all stood there with radiation proof suits knowing that the massive radiation that they were using to save their master with was all around them and it was enough to invoke cancer all over the body or kill you instantly. As the cover of the incubator lifted they held their breaths praying for success to avoid the rage of their master.

"How do I look someone get me a mirror," Derek Powers commanded just to have one passed to him by one of the scientist with a happy look on his face as he looked upon his master's normal face as suppose to the horrid looking being he once was. Derek seemed to be pleased with the radiation therapy along with the rest of the scientists around him that were marveling at their work.

"How long will the radiation proof skin last?"

"Sir, by our calculations about a month, and one more thing make sure to keep out of dark areas."

"Why?" Derek demanded as he watched the dimly lighted room darken to render the room completely dark to reveal his true self that was no longer the man with devilish good looks if he could be considered a man anymore. There in the middle of the darkness was a black skeleton lit up by the green radiation that coursed through his body, which was a sacrifice in order for the scientist to kill the lethal mutagenic nerve gas he was exposed to thanks to those two good doers playing superhero. Even though he no longer considered himself anything as lowly as a human being he still swore to get what he wanted no matter what. With that the night was cursed with a new laughter of pure evil to corrupt the good of day.

**The End**


End file.
